Buried Paths

Listen to "Buried Paths" on Spreaker. John Keats once wrote "Through buried paths, where sleepy twilight dreams the summertime away." For twenty six years I've daily written about masks and paths, mile markers and mountains. I've done all I can as a writer to be transparent in a time only available in the moment. And yet today in prayer I softly spoke, "Be with us Lord for the path is buried." On this podcast episode we put that sentence in our total focus. For the path is buried. For many of us, we're no longer sure of how many weeks we've been hidden away in Covid-19 quarantine. We don't feel free. We're trapped by everything unfolding. If being present in the Now is the only thing we have control of, why in prayer would I say something about the path being buried? It comes across as being hidden away, lost and not up with the rest of the others who are wandering. Yet as a writer the total focus and determination has never been more inviting then the presence of expectation. The path being buried doesn't mean by dirt, walls and silence. Where the majority of us stand might feel like uncertainty but the longer we stay here the more we're realizing where we don't want to be. Everything in the headlines didn't suddenly show up. It's a continuation of several buried paths that were put there because those before us and even our generation chose to walk beyond the events of reality. What if we truly aren't experiencing buried paths but rather being reintroduced to a path that needs attention, compassion and forgiveness? Maybe John Keats was telling readers that through buried paths where sleepy twilight dreams the summertime away was his way of saying,"We can't go into this numb or forgotten for time has a way of biting us back with enormous amounts of distance that can't be replaced."